Forgetful
by shannyfish
Summary: While the IRT is on a case in France, there's an accident that causes Jack to lose memory of who he is.


_"Good friends are hard to find, harder to leave, and impossible to forget." ~ Anonymous_

* * *

"Jack? Jack? Say something."

"Who's Jack?"

Clara just stared at him, her mouth slightly agape as she struggled with his question. Her hand held the sides of his head as she took in the signs of a head injury. She hadn't noticed it at first, but now that she did she was even more worried than she'd been only a second before. "Jack," she repeated and then remembered he didn't remember. "You name is Jack Garrett. You're the unit chief of the IRT."

"IRT?"

More questions.

Sighing, she tried to stay calm. "International Response Team," she clarified. "We help find Americans who are lost overseas. Right now, we're in France." The exact location wasn't important. She realized she'd not told him something important, who she was. She touched the middle of her chest with one of her hands before speaking. "And I'm Clara. Clara Seger. We work together. We've been friends for a long time." Looking around, she noticed that they'd gathered quite a crowd. She knew that she should have called Simmons since she'd found Jack, but she felt like not immediately giving him this chunk of who he was could have been detrimental to them going forward. It had to just be temporary, she told herself, he'd just hit his head.

Before she could get her phone out to call Simmons, though, she found that local law enforcement was already there. They were quickly speaking to her in French and Clara found herself answering them and ignoring Jack's questions about what had been said. She felt like in that moment that it was best to let the locals help. Jack needed to be checked out and likely have his head scanned. This route would be quicker as far as a hospital went.

"Wait...you speak French?" he asked after a long moment, like he'd given up questioning what had been said that he obviously hadn't understood.

"I speak thirteen languages," Clara told him with a smile. "So far."

"So far…"

He seemed to be taking that in and while he did and the French police were busy radioing for an ambulance, she dialed Simmons and put her phone to her ear. "I have Jack. He's okay, but he must have hit his head. French police must have been called, they already have an ambulance coming."

"How bad is it really if he has to go to the hospital?" Simmons questioned.

Clara sighed and looked over to Jack, who was still sitting on the ground, she'd moved away from him just a foot or so. "He doesn't remember who he is."

"How hard did he hit his head?"

"Your guess is as good as mine."

"What about our suspect?"

"Nowhere to be seen."

"Okay, go with Jack. I'll try to see if Monty can be of any help picking up the trail again," Simmons said. "Keep us updated."

"I will."

* * *

"He's suffering from post-traumatic amnesia," the doctor said. Clara was thankful for an English speaking doctor and it obviously was something that also put Jack at ease. "His memories should return, but it could be any amount of time. It is hard to know exactly."

That's what she was afraid of.

"So, I can go?" Jack asked.

"I'll have a nurse bring in the discharge information," the doctor said before leaving them alone.

Clara sighed and looked at him. "You remember nothing?"

"Nothing."

"How about the name Karen?"

Jack seemed to think for a minute and then shook his head. "She my sister or something?"

"No."

"I can't even get this thing open," Jack said as he waved his phone around.

Clara just smirked and took it from him. She had to wait a good two minutes because he'd locked himself out with attempts. "I'll open it for you."

"You know my password?"

Clara nodded. "I told you, we've been friends for a _long_ time. _I know you_ , even if you don't remember yourself…" Once the countdown was up, she typed in his password before handing it back to him. She didn't miss the funny look he was giving her. "What?"

"Are you my wife?"

"What?" That was something that she hadn't expected to hear come from his mouth. Her mouth just hung open for a minute, trying to think of what to say. She closed it, but only for a moment before laughter escaped her. Clara shook her head, the grin not leaving her face. "No...no, I'm not your wife," she told him. "Though you _are_ married." She'd known Jack just as long as she'd known Brad before they'd gotten married, though romantic interest in Jack had never crossed her mind then...she'd thought about it since coming back. She knew that she couldn't and that that was unfair to even think to both of them. Jack was married, happily so, and had five wonderful children. Maybe it was just a twinge of jealousy for what Jack and Karen had, Clara didn't know, but she kept it quiet. She'd much rather stay close to him, to be able to be his friend, to see him on a near daily basis rather than lose him from her life forever. "You also have five kids."

"Five?"

Clara leaned closer and clicked through icons and photos until she found recent family photos. "See? There you are with Karen, RJ, and Emma." She kept swiping until she found the oldest three kids. "There's Josie, she's in California going to university right now. That's fairly recent. And then...Ryan...he also works with the FBI. And finally, Jack Jr. You're extremely proud of them all."

"Okay," Jack said slowly.

This wasn't going to be easy at all. Not only did they need to keep an eye on Jack and sort of babysit him, but they also needed to find their unsub. Clara wasn't exactly sure how they were going to get it all done, but she knew that working together would get it done.

There was a quick knock before a nurse appeared. "I have the paperwork to release Agent Garrett."

* * *

" _Nothing_ looks familiar?"

"No," Jack repeated.

Clara wondered if she should start keeping track of how many times Jack had already been asked that in the span of a few hours. She watched as he looked around the plane while Mae looked over the paperwork from the hospital.

"Likely concussion," Mae mumbled.

"He answered that he couldn't remember to almost every question they asked trying to diagnose that," Clara offered.

"So...we all fly around the world in this thing and solve crimes?" Jack asked.

"And Simmons," Mae said.

"Are there any relationships I should know about?"

Clara shook her head.

"Other than that we're all good friends," Mae added. There was a beat that passed before she spoke up again. "You know, maybe you should sit down, Jack, or maybe try to lay down?"

"There's a bed in this place?" he asked and seemed almost more amazed.

"We've got bunks," Mae said. "We can show you."

"I'm really not tired."

Clara looked to Mae. "We really need to get out there and work the case."

Mae looked between her and Jack, her eyes finally landing on her again. "Well, no offense, but I don't think Jack should be out there."

"I agree."

Jack spoke up now. "Am I really that bad?"

"It's more that you're not going to be... _yourself_ ," Clara tried to explain. "It'd be better if you and I stay here on the plane for the time being. We can coordinate things from here. Maybe there's something Monty can tell us that we don't already know."

"It sounds like you're afraid to leave me alone."

Mae just moved to Clara and patted her shoulder. "You can have this conversation."

"Thanks," Clara mumbled before letting out a soft sigh. She waited until Mae left before looking over at Jack. "That's not what we mean. It's not about trust that you can be alone, it's more that we don't separate if we don't have to." It was true, to an extent. "Plus, us working the case from here...maybe it'll help jog your memory. They said that familiarity would help."

"Here's to hoping…"

* * *

Wrapping the case took longer than she'd originally thought, but that was due to Jack's injury. They'd found their unsub, though, and before he'd been able to kill again. Clara watched him as he slept in one of the chairs on the plane. They'd tried to get him to go lay properly down in one of the bunks, but he'd tried to insist that he wasn't sleepy. The truth was that they were all exhausted.

A cup of tea was suddenly settled into her hands. She looked up and smiled at Mae. "Thank you."

"You worrying about him?" Mae asked before sitting on the arm of the stuffed chair that Clara was sitting in.

Bringing the cup up to her lips, she sipped the hot tea, taking in each hint that it contained. She let it rest between her hands and stared still in Jack's direction. "I'm more worried about how we're going to explain this to Karen and the kids."

"What do you think the bureau will say when we land? Or do?"

"I don't think they'll replace him, it should be more of a medical assessment and what we do in the meantime," Clara said with a shrug. "Maybe it'll just be the three of us and Monty or maybe someone from the BAU will be borrowed for a time."

"Can we pick who gets borrowed?" Mae said with a smile.

Clara just shook her head before taking a small sip. "Do you already have someone in mind, Mae?"

"I mean, I have a few if I can take one out of retirement…"

"It would likely be Rossi or Prentiss," Clara pointed out. "But I'm still hoping that going home will bring Jack's memory back to him."

"What are you going to do when we get home?"

"Sleep."

Mae laughed at that. "Seriously, though."

"I'm going to sleep," Clara insisted. "Jack and Matt are going to be busy with their wives and kids...and I'm going to sleep."

"How about drinking wine?"

"Are you asking me out on a date?" she asked with a smile as she looked up at Mae.

"I mean, it was more of reminding you that Monty and I don't have spouses and kids either, so the three of us-"

"And Monty's grandma?"

"Yeah...that we could all have dinner at least once while we're home."

Clara had no idea what she would have done if she didn't have Mae, Monty, and his grandmother on some of the times they had back in the US in between missions. She'd worried herself returning from sabbatical that she'd sink, that the past would haunt her and keep her from living. That hadn't been the case. The team had made sure of it, even when she'd not wanted to be as social as others had wanted her to be. "I'm sure we'll have the time for at least one dinner."

"You sure you don't want to lie down? I can sit and watch him in case he wakes up and decides to do something crazy."

"No, I'm okay."

"You're exhausted," Mae challenged.

Reaching up, she placed her hand on Mae's arm and patted it. "So are you."

"We could play the 'who is more tired' game."

"Or you could just go with what I say," Clara told her cheerfully and kindly.

"Fine," Mae gave in with a shake of her head, but a smile still firmly in place. "I'll sleep for the both of us."

Clara watched Mae go and then turned her attention back to Jack's sleeping form. She sipped her tea and tried to think of other ways to possibly jog Jack's memory.

* * *

"Clara?"

"Mmm?"

"We've landed."

She opened her eyes and found Jack smiling down at her. She looked down to find her teacup in her lap and was relieved to find it empty and her clothes dry. Clara's eyes moved back to Jack. "We've landed?" she repeated confused. Normally she always could feel the shift in altitude. When had she fallen asleep? How long?

"About ten minutes ago, I asked everyone to be quiet," Jack explained. "Did you really sit here and watch over me?"

"I mean, you weren't going anywhere," she brushed off. "Just didn't want you to wake up and be confused and alone."

"Well, that certainly wasn't the case, but it was sweet of you."

Clara blinked for a moment, her brain trying to take in what he was saying. "Wait...does that mean?"

"That I remember?"

"Yes."

"That you're my wife?"

Clara glared at him because she could tell that he was teasing her now. "I mean, it's bad enough you forget that...but the name of our dog too?" she teased right back with a bright smile. She was glad that he was back to normal, that he remembered.

"You mean, Loki?"

Clara giggled at his response. It was perfect. She also always appreciated the relationship that she and Jack had, especially the playful banter that came with it. "Time to go home?"

"Yep."

"Do you have plans?" she asked as she got to her feet and moved to put the teacup away. She liked to clean up after herself and pull her weight on the plans in all ways.

"Emma has some kind of performance that she was hoping I'd be back for," Jack told her.

When she came back, she found that he was still there just waiting. Clara tilted her head a bit. "I thought you were going? Emma? Her performance?"

Jack held out an arm to her.

She didn't question it, she just moved to him. Grabbing her bag, Clara slung it over her shoulder, and then found Jack's arm wrapping around her. He pressed a kiss to the side of her head as they walked off the plane.

"Let's go home."

* * *

The End.


End file.
